In the retail industry, the largest expenditures are typically the cost of the goods sold followed closely by the cost of labor expended. With particular regard to the retail grocery or supermarket industry, the impetus to reduce labor costs has focused on reducing or eliminating the amount of time required to handle and/or process the items or goods to be purchased by a customer. To this end, there have been a number of self-service checkout concepts developed which attempt to substantially eliminate the need for a checkout clerk.
One such self-service checkout concept is a "scan-in-the-aisle" retail system in which the customer scans or otherwise itemizes his or her items for purchase in the shopping area of the retailer's store. What is meant herein by the term "customer" is a person who enters the retailer's store, selects his or her items for purchase from the shopping area of the store, checks out his or items for purchase, tenders payment for his or her items for purchase, and then exits the store subsequent to tendering payment. Hence, as used herein, a customer is distinguished from a retail checkout clerk or other employee of the retailer in that a customer enters the retailer's store for the sole purpose of purchasing items from the store.
Hence, in particular regard to operation of a scan-in-the-aisle retail system, the customer scans individual items for purchase with a portable, hand-held scanner device in the shopping area of the retailer's store as the customer selects such items for purchase from a shelf or the like. For example, the customer may scan each of his or her items for purchase with the hand-held scanner device as the customer places each item into his or her shopping cart or shopping hand basket. A memory device associated with the hand-held scanner device maintains a list which includes each of the items scanned by the customer. Once the customer has selected all of his or her items for purchase (and hence has scanned all of the same with the hand-held scanner device), the customer proceeds to the checkout area of the retailer's store where the customer places the hand-held scanner device into a data downloading interface in which the list of scanned items is downloaded from the memory device of the hand-held scanner device to a retail checkout terminal which is operated by a retail clerk employed by the retailer. The downloaded information is then utilized to tally the customer's transaction such that the customer may tender payment for his or her items for purchase and thereafter exit the retailer's store.
Another type of self-service checkout concept is a retail terminal known as a self-service checkout terminal. A self-service checkout terminal is a system which is located in the checkout area of the retailer's store and is operated by a customer without the aid of a checkout clerk. In operation of a self-service checkout terminal, the customer scans individual items for purchase across a scanner and then places the scanned items into a grocery bag, if desired. The customer then pays for his or her purchases either at the self-service checkout terminal if so equipped, or at a central payment area which is staffed by a store employee. Thus, a self-service checkout terminal permits a customer to select, itemize, and in some cases pay for his or her purchases without the assistance of the retailer's personnel.
A customer typically has little or no training in the operation of a scan-in-the-aisle retail system or a self-service checkout terminal prior to his or her initial use thereof. Hence, one concern that retailers have when evaluating a self-service checkout concept is the level of supervision provided to inexperienced customers. Moreover, it is also known that some customers may have improper intentions when using a scan-in-the-aisle retail system or a self-service checkout terminal. In traditional checkout systems, the clerk employed by the retailer to operate the assisted checkout terminal provides a level of security against theft or other improprieties. However, in the case of either a scan-in-the-aisle retail system or a self-service checkout terminal, the system or terminal, respectively, itself must provide the necessary security.
Hence, a number of security measures have been implemented in regard to operation of a scan-in-the-aisle retail system. For example, a customer generally must initially register with the retailer prior to his or her first use of the scan-in-the-aisle retail system. Thereafter, for a predetermined number of visits to the retailer's store, each of the new customer's transactions will be subjected to audit. In particular, prior to exiting the store, the customer must take his or her items to an assisted checkout terminal (i.e. a retail checkout terminal operated by a retail clerk employed by the retailer) so that a retail clerk may remove each of the customer's items for purchase from the grocery bags (if the customer has already bagged the items), and thereafter scan or otherwise enter each of the customer's items in order to confirm the accuracy of the customer's transaction. Such an audit procedure may be conducted for a predetermined number of visits after the customer initially registers with the retailer. For example, the first three times the new customer operates the scan-in-the-aisle retail system, the customer may be subjected to an audit. Moreover, after the initial number of audits (e.g. the first three uses of the scan-in-the-aisle retail system), the customer may be subjected to an audit on a random basis. For example, the customer may have a one-in-seven chance of randomly being selected for an audit in which the retail clerk confirms the accuracy of the customer's transaction.
Such audits are occasionally viewed as intrusive by the customer. In particular, it is known that some customers may feel as if they are not "trusted" by the retailer since the retailer may elect to have a store employee (e.g. a retail clerk) audit the customer's transaction.
Another drawback associated with scan-in-the-aisle retail systems which have heretofore been designed is the hand-held scanner device which is provided for use by the customer. Such heretofore designed hand-held scanner devices are generally large and bulky thereby rendering the scanner relatively inconvenient for use by the customer. Moreover, such heretofore designed hand-held scanner devices are typically expensive thereby undesirably increasing cost associated with implementing a scan-in-the-aisle retail system by a retailer.
What is needed therefore is a self-service checkout concept which overcomes one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks. What is particularly needed is a scan-in-the-aisle retail system which allows the customer to complete a transaction himself or herself without the assistance of retail personnel even if an audit of his or her transaction is required. Moreover what is further needed is a hand-held scanner device for use in a scan-in-the-aisle retail system which is less mechanically complex, less expensive to manufacture, convenient to use, and smaller in size relative to hand-held scanner devices which have heretofore been designed.